Earliest Rockets Date Back To 1948

Divers recently discovered three shipwrecks of French vessels thought to be those lost while traveling from what is now Jacksonville, FL to Cuba in 1562. The ships are believed to be those of French colonist and navigator Jean Ribault, which went down during a hurricane off the Florida coast near what is now Cape Canaveral.

And among the ornate bronze cannons and other historic artifacts from the 16th century, divers also located the remains of test rockets launched by the Air Force as far back as 1948. Fox News reports that Robert Pritchett, chief executive of the Florida-based company Global Marine Exploration, said that there are "hundreds and hundreds" of USAF rockets, as well as shrimp boats, airplanes, and aircraft engines.

The remains were found in water only 15-25 feet deep. Pritchett said that the team had discovered actual rocket engines and a lot of rocket tubes, some up to 40 feet long. "There are literally thousands of them out there," he said.

But because of the depth of the water, shifting winds and tides that exposed the ships, and the rockets, can also bury them again in as much as eight feet of sand in a very short time.

Pritchett's company has applied for permits to salvage the historic French artifacts. The cannons he discovered are worth over $1 million each, he said.

(USAF image. V-2 rocket test at Cape Canaveral in 1950)

FMI: http://gmexploration.com